They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Friday, June 18, 2010

Lucy Balch's "Love Trumps Logic"

Lucy Balch loves everything Regency, particularly when it applies to men. From their shining Hessians to their noticeably absent powdered wigs, they are the epitome of style. The ladies’ dresses aren’t bad either.

Here she shares some insights about casting an adaptation of her first novel, Love Trumps Logic:

The casting game can bring a book to life, sometimes in unintended ways. Imagining this, that or the other actor as my various characters renders giggles, frowns or—finally—a sigh that acknowledges rightness.

An interesting thing about favorite actors: They can inspire whole books. Johnny Depp, my pick for sexiest actor of all time, kept my fingers flying over the keyboard as I wrote Love Trumps Logic—particularly during certain spicy scenes that are key to a romance novel. And the twelve or so year’s difference between him and my hero, Beau? It didn’t matter a whit. Beau’s sultry eyes and kissable lips—taken straight from Johnny’s face—give believability to his legendary status in the gossip rags of his day. He’s a man women want to read about, to spy on, nay, to bed.

Who better to catch charismatic Beau than Scarlett Johansson as Fiona, my heroine, a beautiful, bluestocking debutante? Fiona has limited patience with most of her suitors, and is not easily swayed by a good-looking man. A red-haired Charlize Theron would be a more typical smart-chick pick, but I cannot resist the pairing of Johnny and Scarlett.

Fiona thinks she’s found good husband material in Henry, a scientific-minded man who doesn’t slather her with compliments and drool. I wish Henry could be played by William Hurt, the perfect man to play a stuffy, sometimes grouchy, eccentric. But he’s simply too old now. If anyone can think of a younger version of Hurt, I’d love to hear about it.

Despite his shortcomings, Henry, too, has a love interest by the end of the book. The gossipy coquette who claims Henry’s heart is played by Helena Bonham Carter. She has just enough quirkiness and just the right mixture of pathos and kittenish appeal to pull off this lady.

The main villain in the story is Daphne Tarkington. She’s beautiful and heartless to the point of being cruel, and Nicole Kidman is the no-brainer choice. Her impeccable beauty makes her believable as someone who lured Beau into her bed, only showing her undercurrent of evil insanity after he was reeled in.

The secondary villains’ roles, a Cockney brother and sister, I gave to Bob Hoskins and Julie Walters. Hoskins was almost too easy to cast; the decision to cast Walters came about only after I remembered her independent, sexy older woman in Mama Mia! Speaking of which, Meryl Streep as Beau’s mother, Lady Margaret, feels right as rain.

This movie will be a blockbuster, I can feel it! Are there any screenwriters out there who want to take on the adaptation? Let me know!

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin